Chopstick assembly

ABSTRACT

A chopstick assembly is described in which a support plate is firmly attached to one of the stick members, the other being pivotally supported in said plate.

United States Patent Rollband 1 Apr. 30, 1974 [5 CHOPSTICK ASSEMBLY3,259,415 7/1966 Howard 294/16 3,414,310 12 1968 On 4 1 294 [76] lmemoriEmes Muband, Green ACeS 3,637 248 111972 Ari; 294111 5 Mobil Home Park,3415 Slaterville 3,211I48s 10/1965 Duranel 294/16 Rd., R.D, No. 1,Brooktondale, N.Y. 148 l 7 Primary Examiner.1ames B. Marbert [22] Flled'1972 Assistant Examiner.10hnny D. Cherry [21] Appl. No.: 302,647Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frederick E. Bartholy [52] US. Cl. 294/16,294/104 [51] Int. Cl. A47g 21/10 57 B A [58] Field of Search 294/16, 28,33, 99 R, 99 SA,

294/104, 137, 81/43 A chopstick assembly is described in which a supportplate is firmly attached to one of the stick members, References Cltedthe other being pivotally supported in said plate.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Kauh et a1. 294/16 4 Claims, 4 Drawing FiguresCHOPSTICK ASSEMBLY This invention relates to the ancient eatingimplement, generally known as chopsticks.

It is of course well known that in the Orient, chopsticks comprising twoseparate sticks of bamboo, independent of each other, are skillfullyused for picking up food particles and transferring them to the mouth ofthe user. For the Occidental, the use of such sticks represents anunconquerable drawback inasmuch as his fingers have not been trained tohandle them properly. As a matter of fact, for the proficient use ofconventional chopsticks, such training must begin in childhood.

It has been said that the advantages of chopsticks over the conventionalfork and spoon of the Occidental world are manifold. One reason for thisis of course that the material of which the chopsticks are made isneutral to the acids which may be found in the culinary products of theOrient and thus the flavor of the food is not impaired as would be thecase with metal utensils.

At the present time, an interest in the use of chopsticks is beingexperienced in the Occidental part of the world, in view of the risingpopularity of Chinese food.

In the hands of the skilled user, it will be observed that one of thechopsticks is firmly held and may be considered stationary as far as themanipulation is concerned, while the other is moved by the fingerstoward or away from the stationary one in order to close in on a pieceof food to be picked up. This is the conventional use of chopsticks incontradistinction to the pincer-type movement of chopstick assemblies ofthe prior art.

Referring to the latter, it will be seen that attempts have been made toconnect two chopsticks by springs and other clamping means to make iteasier for the un-' skilled user. Such instrumentalities, as statedbefore, result in a pincer-type operation which defeats theirconventional use. Reference should be had in this respect to U.S. Pat.vNos. 2,997,328; 3,186,749; and 3,304,] l I.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a pair ofchopsticks so interconnected. as to enable an unskilled user tomanipulate them in a conventional manner.

It is a particular feature of the invention that the I chopsticksconstructed in accordance therewith may be assembled without requiringtools or fastening devices.

It is a particular advantage of the invention that the chopsticks soconstructed may be kept sanitary by easy disassembly for cleaning.

Other objects, features, and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing description of the invention, pointed out in particularity inthe appended claims, and taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a pair of chopsticks held by a support plate and ready foruse.

FIG. 2 is a partial view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the support plate with cutout andinterfitting pivot means.

FIG. 4 shows the placement of the fingers for the proper use of thechopsticks.

Referring to the figures, the side view in FIG. 1 shows chopsticks 10,comprising an upper stick member 11 and lower stick member 12. Thesemembers are of a rectangular cross-section at one portionand taper to acircular cross-section toward the end where they close upon each other.The member 12 is slotted at 14 to accommodate a support plate 15 whichis firmly imbedded in the body of the stick member 12 simply byfrictional contact. Moreover, the plate 15 has an apex 16 which, whenplaced in the slot 14, assures additional stability.

As seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the upper stick member 11 ispivotally supported in the plate 15. For this purpose, the member 11 isslotted at 18 as seen in FIG. 2. The pivot for the member 11 comprises astud 20 which extends between the slotted portions and is of an ovalshape as seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 3. The support plate 15 has acutout 21 terminating in a circular bearing 22 in which the stud 20 mayeasily pivot. By virtue of this construction the stick members 11 and 12may be easily assembled and separated if desired.

The assembly is effected by first inserting the stud 20 of the member 11through the cutout 21 into the bearing 22 and thereafter inserting thesupport plate 15 into the channel 14 of the member 12. The chopsticksare now in proper position for pivotal movement of the member 11 towardand away from the member 12 effected by the fingers of the user.

In FIG. 4 it is seen that the hand is placed over the support plate 15in such a manner that the upper stick member is held between the indexfinger and the middle finger with the thumb resting on the side thereof.The lower stick member is gripped by the thumb and is held stationaryagainst the remaining fingers of the hand. By the movement of the indexfinger and middle finger the stick member 11 is simply caused to moveover the pivot provided in the support plate 15 and thus close in onthelower member 12 for gripping action. This is the natural movement inthe use of chopsticks. The upper stick'member 11 and the lower stickmember 12 are held in proper spacial relationship by the support plate15, assuring ease of operation.

While the above description discloses the preferred embodiment, itshould be clear that various modifications are possible within theordinary skill of craftsmen in this art and, accordingly, the scope ofthe present invention should be determined solely from the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

l. A chopstick assembly comprising:

1. an elongated upper movable stick member, said upper member having:

a. a slot extending therethrough near one end thereof and b. a pivotelement extending across said slot transversely thereto;

2. an elongated lower stationary stick member; and

3. a support plate secured to said lower member near one end thereof,said support plate having a pivot means therein:

a. shaped to accept said pivot element and b. located at a pointsufficiently remote from said lower member so that one or more fingersof a user of the chopstick assembly can be placed between said uppermember and said lower member, whereby a user of the chopstick assemblycan pivot said upper member with respect to said lower member whileholding said lower member stationary.

2. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lower member hasa slot and said support plate is of such configuration as to firmlyengage said slot for retention therein.

3. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein user.

1. A chopstick assembly comprising:
 1. an elongated upper movable stickmember, said upper member having: a. a slot extending therethrough nearone end thereof and b. a pivot element extending across said slottransversely thereto;
 2. an elongated lower stationary stick member; and3. a support plate secured to said lower member near one end thereof,said support plate having a pivot means therein: a. shaped to acceptsaid pivot element and b. located at a point sufficiently remote fromsaid lower member so that one or more fingers of a user of the chopstickassembly can be placed between said upper member and said lower member,whereby a user of the chopstick assembly can pivot said upper memberwith respect to said lower member while holding said lower memberstationary.
 2. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lowermember has a slot and said support plate is of such configuration as tofirmly engage said slot for retention therein.
 2. an elongated lowerstationary stick member; and
 3. a support plate secured to said lowermember near one end thereof, said support plate having a pivot meanstherein: a. shaped to accept said pivot element and b. located at apoint sufficiently remote from said lower member so that one or morefingers of a user of the chopstick assembly can be placed between saidupper member and said lower member, whereby a user of the chopstickassembly can pivot said upper member with respect to said lower memberwhile holding said lower member stationary.
 3. An assembly in accordancewith claim 1 wherein said pivot means in said support plate comprises asemi-circular cutout having a longitudinal extension and said pivotelement comprises an oval stud shaped to fit slideably in said extensionfor easy pivotal assembly of said upper stick member in said supportplate.
 4. An assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said supportplate is of wedge-shaped configuration, tapered toward the terminal endof said sticks and having a curved edge for the accommodation of afinger of the user.